It’s easy as Americans to take Olympic medals for granted. Every year, Team USA amasses a small mountain of precious metals in track and field (and the Olympics generally), usually dominating the total country count and condemning anything less than gold in the relays as failure.

So it’s hard to imagine just truly how much it means to the nations of St. Lucia (population: 200,000) and Dominica (population: 80,000) to pick up their first medals of any color and any sport at the end of yesterday’s action. And not only did Julien Alfred and Thea LaFond put their country on the podium; they each won gold — Alfred in the 100m, and LaFond in the triple jump. Hearing your nation’s national anthem played for the very first time in the history of the Olympics has to be one of the most incredible achievements an athlete could possibly dream up.

There were plenty of other exciting firsts — first Olympic gold for two-time World champ Femke Bol on the anchor of the mixed-gender 4×400m, first-ever shot put threepeat by Ryan Crouser, and first appearance of the much-anticipated repechage rounds in the Olympics. Markus Rooth’s decathlon gold for Norway wasn’t a first, but it was the first in over 100 years — the last Norwegian Olympic multi champ won in 1920.

Before you start feeling too bad for Team USA, fear not: while the Americans weren’t breaking any records, they still did quite well for themselves, picking up six medals across four finals (two in the shot put, two in the 100m, bronze in the triple jump, and a silver in the relay). And count your blessings: it was a tough day for some other federations, as Jamaica only got one woman in the 100m final and no medals (although they picked up silver in the triple jump and bronze in the shot put), and Australia, who had five athletes across 800m and 1500m in the repechage and only advanced one.

Our CITIUS MAG crew continues to offer top-tier reporting and banter from Paris with the GOOD MORNING TRACK AND FIELD crew featuring Eric Jenkins, Mitch Dyer, and Karen Leisewicz at 8:30 am E.T. each day and the TORCH TALK podcast after the final events wrap up. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube and Spotify for daily reports straight from the heart of the action.

What To Watch On Day 3

The sprint madness continues today, with the semifinal and final of the men’s 100m featuring Jamaicans Ackeem Blake, Oblique Seville, and Kishane Thompson taking on Americans Fred Kerley, Kenny Bednarek, and Noah Lyles. Plus, the women’s 200m rounds get underway and the 110m hurdles kick off as Grant Holloway chases the elusive Olympic gold.

Middle-distance fans will get the first round of the women’s steeplechase and semi-finals of the women’s 800m and men’s 1500m, and field fans get two exciting finals with the women’s high jump and men’s hammer throw. Nine more medals will be handed out and there’s plenty of opportunity for more history to be made.

You can find a full schedule and live results here.

Race of the Day: Women’s 100m

Julien Alfred has three NCAA titles, a World Indoor title, and won the coveted Bowerman Award in her final year at the University of Texas. But so large looms the shadows of sprinters like Sha’carri Richardson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Elaine Thompson-Herah that even though the St. Lucian star is one of the fastest women in history and this year’s world #2, she’s not a household name for the more casual fans.

No longer. The world will never forget Alfred’s calm and controlled execution of the best race of her career, clocking a 10.72 victory on a wet track to win her first global medal, an Olympic gold. Alfred’s now tied for the eight-fastest woman of all time in the event and, at 23 years old, is still only in the first full year of her pro career. Her form already looks like a textbook tutorial on how to execute a sprint race, and under the tutelage of legendary coach Edrick Floreal, she’ll only get better from here.

All three of the medalists in the 100m were first-timers, as Richardson recovered from a shaky start to pick up the silver in 10.87 and Melissa Jefferson, Richardson’s training partner and the 2022 U.S. champ, grabbed bronze in 10.92. With the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th-place finishers in the final, Team USA’s expectations for the 4×100m have to be sky-high.

Athlete of the Day: Ryan Crouser

A little rain couldn’t stop the GOAT from making history.

The round, partially-roofed Stade de France protects spectators from getting wet, but the shot put ring in the center of the infield wasn’t quite as lucky. A slippery throwing circle makes going for big marks challenging, but Ryan Crouser’s third-round effort of 22.90m got on the books just before the rain really picked up and held up through the next few rounds to make the Oregon native the first-ever three-time Olympic shot put champ.

Crouser now has the best resume of any shot putter in history: three Olympic golds, two World golds, a World Indoor title, and two more silvers just for kicks. In the last six global finals, Crouser has finished first five times and second once. He also has the indoor and outdoor world records and all four of the farthest throws in history.

At 31, Crouser’s career is (hopefully) far from over, but there’s really not much left for him to do. Inevitably, when winning becomes routine, the only true competition for him will be the back of the throwing sector and, possibly one day, the mythical 24-meter mark. It’s almost unbelievable to conceptualize, but larger-than-life performances is where Crouser thrives.

Photo of the Day:

An elated Femke Bol splashes through the rain to clock an incredible 47.93 400m anchor leg and deliver gold to the Netherlands in the mixed 4×400m relay.

Social Moment of the Day:

Seems like Adele is a track and field fan as she stopped her concert mid-performance to watch the Olympic 100m final.